[1830]
S.: The path (magga) has five factors?
P.: Yes.
S.: But was it not said by the Blessed One: "Subhadda, in whatever Dhamma and Discipline (dhammavinaya) the noble eightfold path (ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo) is not found, no ascetic (samaṇa) is found therein; no second ascetic is found therein; no third ascetic is found therein; no fourth ascetic is found therein. And, Subhadda, in whatever Dhamma and Discipline the noble eightfold path is found, an ascetic, too, is found therein; a second, too, … a third, too, … a fourth ascetic, too, is found therein. In this Dhamma and Discipline, Subhadda, the noble eightfold path is found; it is only here, Subhadda, that there is an ascetic; here a second ascetic; here a third ascetic; here a fourth ascetic. The doctrines of others are empty of ascetics" — does such a discourse (suttanta) really exist?
P.: Yes.
S.: In that case, the path has eight factors.
End of the Maggakathā (Discourse on the Path).
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Ñāṇakathā (Discourse on Knowledge)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.